A&E

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Comments

  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,445 Championing
    Contact Scope. I have but no reply yet.
    Is it our campaigns team you contacted @cmb? :) 

  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    I replied to an emal. I have no idea how to contact the campaigns team, even though I am it.
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    You can contact the campaigns team using: campaigns@scope.org.uk @CMB :)
  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    Please would you do this as I find typing email addresses frustrating as my keyboard often mystifies me.
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    That does sound frustrating @CMB is there something in particular you struggle with like typing the '@'?
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    edited September 2022
    You could also try copying and pasting the email I've shared into the 'To' section when you write an email, if that helps? 

    Do you have any family or friends who could give you a hand? :) 

    You can also set up an email to the campaigns team, by clicking on their email at the bottom of this page- that will bring up an email ready to go, you'd just need to type your message or query. 
  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    No, I have respiratory failure and forget what I just typed.
  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    Alex_Scope said:
    You could also try copying and pasting the email I've shared into the 'To' section when you write an email, if that helps? 

    Do you have any family or friends who could give you a hand? :) 

    You can also set up an email to the campaigns team, by clicking on their email at the bottom of this page- that will bring up an email ready to go, you'd just need to type your message or query. 
    I find the assumptions you have made about me here offensive. We should  never assume anything about anyone.
  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,714 Championing
    @CMB I'm sorry you found Alex's response offensive. We do have to be careful when speculating about others conditions and the impact it has on their functional ability, although I'm sure the original comment was made with the best of intentions. 

    I can understand how the A&E department wouldn't be suitable for people with a number of impairments and empathise with your frustration. I'll forward this thread onto our campaigns department now to bring it to their attention. 
  • Wibbles
    Wibbles Community member Posts: 2,138 Championing
    edited October 2022
    CMB said:
    Tori_Scope said:
    How are you feeling today @cmb?
    Why haven't you picked this up to campaign? Those of us with neurological disease suffer discrimination each time we need A&E. I am bitterly disappointed.

    Do you really expect a seperate A&E for the disabled ?
    If so - you are unfortunately going to be disappointed
    This is hardly "discriminatory" !
    In these financial conditons, I would recommend that when you arrive at A&E, you simply state your needs and let them deal with them....
    My own hospital A&E has quieter areas where you can squirrel yourself away and has comfortable seats (not HARD BENCHES) - but if you are hidden away - how can a member of hospital staff, check that you haven't collapsed or worse ?
  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    I'm sorry you feel this way. I cannot go to A&E. If I end up there by ambulance, I need pain relief just for being there. And they put more monitors on me for reasons caused by being there. I do have notes attached to my name at the my local hospital now and it is a little better for me. I'm glad your hospital has comfortable seats, but mine only has hard benches to lie on. It does break the Equality Act. If they would go back to rubber mattresses, I could be there and feel, mostly, comfortable. If a Chief Consultant in Trauma has said A&E cannot meeet the needs of those with neurological diseases, who is going to argue with him?
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,538 Championing
    This discussion is raising an important point around the different barriers that disabled people face. As someone who hasn't had to visit A&E recently I can only share my own perspective, but I would assume that having to go is traumatic and stressful enough as a non-disabled person, let alone when you have a disability or health condition to consider. 

    For those with neurological conditions, as @CMB mentions, I wonder what additional barriers do we face?

    It's interesting to consider the functional purpose of the A&E department as somewhere where people are not meant to stay for a very long time, and perhaps it's design reflects that. Sadly right now incredibly long waits are common place, due to staff and infrastructure pressures, the ongoing pressures of the pandemic, a lack of funding etc.

    More comfortable benches would be better suited for a longer wait of course, and I think what this discussion has thrown up is just one of the ways A&E isn't fit for purpose. 

    Returning to the barriers we face, @Wibbles mentions:
    In these financial conditons, I would recommend that when you arrive at A&E, you simply state your needs and let them deal with them....
    Sometimes the fact that we have to ask for accommodations is a barrier, it can cause stress and anxiety, facing the uncertainty of not knowing whether we can be accommodated, knowing how stretched staff are, and how many people are already waiting.  

    but if you are hidden away - how can a member of hospital staff, check that you haven't collapsed or worse ?
    This is a good point, and I'm sure a real and pressing concern for those that might seek out somewhere more comfortable to wait. I wonder if this does highlight that A&E should have some provision to allow those who need more comfortable seating to use it safely. As it's an already fast-paced and stressful environment, I think it might be difficult to have the time to explain access needs.

  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    Alex_Scope said:
    This discussion is raising an important point around the different barriers that disabled people face. As someone who hasn't had to visit A&E recently I can only share my own perspective, but I would assume that having to go is traumatic and stressful enough as a non-disabled person, let alone when you have a disability or health condition to consider. 

    For those with neurological conditions, as @CMB mentions, I wonder what additional barriers do we face?

    It's interesting to consider the functional purpose of the A&E department as somewhere where people are not meant to stay for a very long time, and perhaps it's design reflects that. Sadly right now incredibly long waits are common place, due to staff and infrastructure pressures, the ongoing pressures of the pandemic, a lack of funding etc.

    More comfortable benches would be better suited for a longer wait of course, and I think what this discussion has thrown up is just one of the ways A&E isn't fit for purpose. 

    Returning to the barriers we face, @Wibbles mentions:
    In these financial conditons, I would recommend that when you arrive at A&E, you simply state your needs and let them deal with them....
    Sometimes the fact that we have to ask for accommodations is a barrier, it can cause stress and anxiety, facing the uncertainty of not knowing whether we can be accommodated, knowing how stretched staff are, and how many people are already waiting.  

    but if you are hidden away - how can a member of hospital staff, check that you haven't collapsed or worse ?
    This is a good point, and I'm sure a real and pressing concern for those that might seek out somewhere more comfortable to wait. I wonder if this does highlight that A&E should have some provision to allow those who need more comfortable seating to use it safely. As it's an already fast-paced and stressful environment, I think it might be difficult to have the time to explain access needs.

    Since COVID there can be a queue to get in A&E. Even without a queue, I spent 9 hours in Resus. before being moved to Majors. That was 11 hours of nightmare for me. The point isn't how long we are there, the point is that we are entitled to the same comfort as people with no neurological disease. We often don't get to state our needs because the waiting room is interested in our needs, and even if we state our needs with ED itself, we are told this is ED, it's how it works by healthy staff. I cannot go to A&E as it is now. I become more ill than I was before I arrived. So where is the Equality Act or First Do No Harm?
  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    I'm really sad that no one agrees that a quiet room with 2 or 3 beds would be ideal for those with physical neurological problems. I would not suffer in A&E then, and nor would many others.
  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 57,935 Championing
    Its not that I don't agree,  in a real world it would be great, but we're talking about an over stretched service, that can only do what they can, how there able to do it. 
  • CMB
    CMB Community member Posts: 44 Listener
    I'm sorry you find it rude to point out assumptions. I always find the staff very kind indeed. However, kindness does not make ED any more comfortable for me.
  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,924 Championing
    Please continue listening to each other and supporting each other! It is kindness that makes our community the wonderful space it is  :)
  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,924 Championing
    I can hear that kindness does not make ED any more comfortable for you @CMB. It sounds like making ED more comfortable is something that is really important to you.

    Is there anything, in particular, that would make ED more comfortable for you? We are here for you and listening to you if you would like to share more with us  :)

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